Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golfing devices and methods; and more particularly, to golfing devices and methods that are designed to perfect a golfer's swing, increase ball contact and improve golf performance.
Description of the Prior Art
The sport of golfing has become a major entertainment and business industry. Frequently business meetings and dealings take place on the golf course. Social events and outings often are carried out on golf courses. Consequently, individuals of all golfing levels frequently search for methods and devices to improve their golf game. Notwithstanding the plethora of such methods and devices, the improvement of golf prowess can be challenging. Golfers have long known that a proper golf swing is an important component of good golfing technique. Extra care must be taken by the golfer to ensure optimal stroke carry through. A necessary prerequisite for proper golf form is the requirement that a golfer keep his head down during the swing. This condition is actually quite challenging in that golfers frequently forget to keep their head facing downward during the swing and, in doing so, overlook an important swing requirement. Without proper form a tee shot is much less likely to find the fairway.
Golf outings represent a form recreational sporting activity; but additionally provide opportunities to improve business relations, develop inter-company networking and conduct business transactions. For many golfers, the desire to increase performance cannot be understated. While various training devices and methods have been disclosed and utilized, many of these devices and methods are complicated and costly.
Numerous methods and devices have been proposed that attempt to improve a golfer's performance. Such devices and methods are summarized herein below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,554 to Philips discloses a sparking hammer generally having a lower head portion provided with an external bellows, to which is secured a plate. A striker bar, serrated on its exterior, frictionally engages flint secured to the oscillating extension of a spring in order that it will engage the serrations of the striker bar, when the bellows of the lower head portion strikes a surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,027 to Brown discloses a high performance golf tee having a stem, a cup-shaped ball receptacle on the top of the stem, and a projection extending outwardly from the ball receptacle. The extension distance is such that when a golf ball is placed on the tee and a golf club is swung at the ball, the golf club contacts the projection and imparts motion to the ball before the golf club makes direct contact with the surface of the golf ball. The contact between the golf club and the projection imparts an initial backspin on the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,011 to Jessee discloses a heads down golf practice device having a resilient tubular golf tee member mounted in and protruding upwardly from a resilient, flat tee support structure base. The base includes a light emitting assembly having a light visible through the interior portion of the resilient tubular golf tee and mechanical indexing elements for randomly selecting a color of the visible light. It does not teach or discloses a golf tee having a contact alert coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,280 to Poortman discloses an electronic tee off device having a plurality of light-emitting diodes of different colors. These diodes are situated at a location where, when energized, they are visible to a golfer when the golfer is properly positioned with respect to a golf ball appointed to be driven from a tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,389 to Plutt discloses a self-contained gold training device designed to be integral with, or attached to and detached from the head of any golf club. The device gives a golfer an exact indication of the point of impact of the face of a golf club with a golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,431 to McGuire discloses a golf tee providing a pliant riser and a rigid anchor. A placement tool providing means for placement of said golf tee into the ground. The anchor having enough length and exposed surface area to provide the required friction needed to hold said golf tee firmly in place even after being struck by a golf club used to hit a golf ball teed up on said golf tee. The placement tool consisting of a tool handle, a tool shaft and a tool sleeve is used to place said golf tee into the ground such that the anchor head is below the ground surface a distance calibrated by the tee height indicator on the riser. There is no disclosure of a coating on the placement tool, which is utilized for placing a golf tee into the ground. Furthermore, the placement tool and golf tee do not emit a spark that immediately indicates proper golf stroke form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,358 to Pippett discloses that determination of the point of impact on a golf club face with a golf ball is facilitated through the use of a flowable chalk compound placed on the ball at the intended point of contact with the club face. The flowable chalk compound includes a homogeneous, paste-like mixture of a major proportion of a solid, finely divided pigment and a minor proportion of a grease-like material. Upon impact, the chalk compound will make a visible mark on the club head face that may be observed by the golfer. There is no disclosure of a coating on the golf tee. Instead the chalk compound in placed on the ball. Furthermore, the chalk compound does not provide immediate feedback concerning of the golf club stroke, since the club head face must be observed after the golf swing in order to discern the point of contact between the club head and the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,146 to Blosser discloses a golf tee having successive contrasting color stripes around most of its length. A golfer can determine at a glance how many of the stripes are exposed above the ground in which the tee is set, and thereby determine the height of a golf ball on the tee above the ground. The stripes are arranged in repeated sequences with two or more different colors in each sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,361 to Hope discloses a self-adhesive indicator which adheres to a golf club face to provide an indication of the point of impact of the golf ball on the club face. The indicator consists of a sandwich of various layers--a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive on the bottom, followed by a layer of energy-absorbing elastomeric material on which is provided a film of a thermochromic material such as a temperature sensitive liquid crystal, followed by a top layer of clear high impact plastic.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,077 to Yavitz discloses a device for assisting a golfer in improving his or her golf swing. The device includes an impact detector mounted to the club head of a golf club. The impact detector provides an instantaneous visual or audible indication of when a predetermined area, e.g., the “sweet spot”, of the club head face strikes the golf ball. There is no disclosure of a coating on the golf tee. Instead the impact detector is mounted to the club head. Modifying the golf club head by mounting the impact detector thereon would disqualify the golf club and lead to stroke penalties if the club were used in recreational and tournament play. Standard regulated golf clubs and golf balls must be unadulterated or un-manipulated as required under golf organization rules and regulations of the United States Golf Association (USGA).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,976 to Anderson discloses an encasement device for a golf tee cylindrically adhered to a shaft of golf tee. The encasement device is a cover with graduated markings, which allow the golfer to consistently set the tee at the golfer's desired depth. Each graduated marking is numerically related to other graduated markings and the ground penetration depth. The resulting multi-layer structure of the golf tee and the encasement device deters breakage of the golf tee and reinforces the shaft structure of the golf tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,156 to Alexsen discloses a biodegradable golf tee having fertilizer properties, as well as a method of making the golf tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,964, U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 20040162153 and 20050101413 to Adams et al. disclose a golf tee coated with colored coatings which, when struck with a golf club, leave a marking that easily identifies where the ball was struck on the club face and the path of the swing, but does not come off in normal handling. The tee leaves a multi-colored marking on the club face that is used to show the swing path of a golfer's swing and the point of impact of the tee on the face of the golf club. There is no disclosure of a spark coating on the golf tee. Instead a colored coating compound leaves a mark on the golf club face. Furthermore, the colored coating does not provide immediate feedback regarding the golf club stroke, since the club head face must be observed after the golf club swing in order to discern the point of contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,067 to Town discloses a swing training device. A microprocessor controlled set of colored LEDs teach the user to watch the ball during contact by a ball hitting device such as a baseball bat or golf club.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,604,554 to Otsubo discloses a golf tee implementing an anchoring device, an impact energy deflection device and a friction reduction device in one-piece configuration. The tee anchoring device comprises two anchoring fins for initial impact resistance and the recoil dislodgement prevention fin after-impact resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,525 to Brown discloses a dual composition polymeric device to be used as a golf tee. The device has a polymeric hollow stiff stem portion with an integral cone portion at its top end; a cone-shaped polymeric flexible face portion mechanically joined to the cone and stiff stem portion; an internal air passage through the center of the cone-shaped flexible face; and a removable mechanical screw joining the cone-shaped flexible face portion with the stiff stem portion and its integral cone portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,083,615 to Wood et al. discloses a set of golf tees. The set includes at least a low spin golf tee and a high spin golf tee. The low spin golf tee is constructed to provide decreased resistance to the deformation of a golf ball that is impacted by a golf club while resting on the low spin golf tee.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050127630 to Kuhlman et al. discloses a spark-emitting device for a skateboard. The spark-emitting device includes a housing and a plurality of misch metal barrels inserted into a housing and spaced apart so that the wear rate of the housing in the misch metal barrels is compatible and a desired sparking effect is achieved. The spark-emitting device for a skateboard is not utilized for golf purposes; no disclosure is contained therein regarding a spark-emitting tee for golf play.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20090143159 to Murph et al. discloses a golf club that provides a universal training tool for golfers of all sizes. The golf club includes an adjustable length shaft having a club head secured at one end thereof and a handle secured at the other end thereof. A sensor circuit disposed in the club head includes a first sensor adapted to generate and transmit a first measurement signal representing a first desired characteristic of the golf club, and a display circuit disposed in the handle.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20130165273 to Delisle et al. discloses a golf tee including an elongate shaft having opposed upper and lower ends, the lower end configured to be inserted into an underlying surface; and a support cup that is configured to support a golf ball from beneath and that merges with the shaft. The support cup has a base portion and further includes at least three arcuate support prongs projecting upwardly from the base portion. The support prongs define a discontinuous annulus about the periphery of the support cup. There is no disclosure of a spark induction coating on the golf tee. Inasmuch as no spark is generated, the golf tee does not provide immediate feedback regarding the golf club stroke.
Foreign Patent Publication No. WO/2011/078469 to Ru discloses a golf tee that prevents the golfer from raising his head up. The golf tee construction comprising inter alia a light emitting lamp built in a laid portion.
None of the heretofore disclosed and/or utilized devices or methods provides a training aid that is economical to produce, easy to use and reliably assists a golfer to achieving proper golfing form. Specifically, none of the heretofore disclosed and/or utilized devices or methods provides a golf tee that is inexpensive to construct, reliable in operation, and provides a readily accessible and entertaining way to improve one's golf swing and provide immediate evidence of the optimal stance and follow through required for proper swing form.
There exists a need in the art for a device or method that provides a low cost, reliable training aid that is easy to use and assists a golfer to achieving proper golfing form. In addition, there exists a need in the art for a golf tee that is inexpensive to construct, accurate and reliable in operation, and provides a readily accessible and entertaining way to improve one's golf swing and provide immediate evidence of the optimal stance and follow through required for proper swing form. Further, there is a need in the art to provide a golf tee achieving these features that can be used in compliance with rules and regulations of golf courses and tournaments, for use with standard regulation golf clubs and golf balls.